Damian [13] - Edited

He'd ultimately asked Damian to follow him but quite frankly, he had no idea what he to do with the child.

Roughly looking over the boy, he could say the boy had grown up well but properly examining the child felt awkward.

"Do you read a lot of books?"

"Yes, I like it so I read a lot."

Hugo took Damian to his study. Before this, she'd been the only one allowed access to his study.

As soon as Damian entered the study, his eyes widened, his mouth fell open and his head swiftly turned left and right.

The huge library in his academy had a lot of books but it wasn't stylish. Owned by an individual, the magnificent scale and superb atmosphere lit up a soft light in the eyes of the fascinated boy.

"Is that place part of the study too?"

Damian asked, looking at the firmly closed door at the right of the study.

Hugo's eyes sank. The place where he was able to enter after succession. The place where only the head of the Taran Family could enter. It was a secret room that contained all the truths about the Taran family.

"Don't concern yourself with that one. It's full of garbage."

Hugo had no plans of passing down that room to Damian. He would burn and erase all traces of it sometime before Damian takes over as the master of Taran.

This was what he'd made up his mind to do for a long time. The secrets of Taran would end with him alone.

"You can look around as you please. If you want to read a book, you can come in and read at any time."

"Yes! Thank you."

The boy had been jittery for a while because he wanted to look around so as soon as permission was given, he quickly bolted away and began to look all over the place.

There was warmth in Hugo's eyes as he watched the boy frantically move from place to place, scouring the study.

Sometime later, Hugo left the study, leaving the boy alone as the boy had taken out a book from the shelves and was completely engrossed in reading.

When he was about to enter his office, the name 'Lucia' once again crossed his mind. He knit his brows and stood holding the door handle. After a while, he went inside.

***

From morning, there was a line of carriages heading towards Roam to attend the garden party hosted by the Duchess.

Because the Duchess always held small tea parties and never a ball, this garden party reached many generations.

The age group were diverse, ranging from elderly women to unmarried girls, the attendees were also diverse, composed of well-known people in the northern high society, those who were not well-known, families of vassals and those who were not families of vassals.

Everyone invited today had at least been invited once to one of the Duchess' previous tea parties.

The tea parties of the Duchess were not repetitive exchanges with a small group of people but were distinctively broad meetings with various groups of people.

The evaluation of the Duchess in the high society varied from person to person.

Those who dreamt of a grand and luxurious ball expressed their regrets while influential figures in the established high society favored the non-aggressive manner of the Duchess.

"Thank you for the invitation."

"Welcome. I'm glad you could come."

Lucia welcomed the ladies as they arrived one at a time, greeting them with a light embrace.

It was hectic constantly meeting the eyes of people and smiling at them as they entered but once there was a little gap, she called for her maid.

"Damian is running late. Go check if he's still far away and report to me."

"Yes, Milady."

There were dozens of round tables arranged in the extensive space of the garden. They were covered with white lace tablecloths and each table was decorated with a vase.

There were no designated seats, allowing people to sit freely. The attendees understood this and they made groups of twos and threes, taking up tables one at a time.

In the blink of an eyes, the garden was filled with the talk and laughter of women. It was a really good weather to schedule an outside program.

The sunlight was moderate and there was next to no wind. Even though they had already entered the cold season, it was quite cozy today.

The elevated atmosphere filled the face of the ladies with laughter.

"Lady Milton. Welcome, come on in."

"Thank you for the invitation, the weather is very good today and I know the party will be lovely."

After confirming that Kate came alone, Lucia expressed her regret.

"Madam Michelle did not come with you."

"Yes, she wanted to come but her health isn't very good these days."

Countess Corzan was weakening in energy day by day due to old age and as Countess Corzan was like a teacher to her, Lucia's heart felt uncomfortable.

"I have to go see her sometime."

"Great-aunt will be very pleased if you do."

A maid quickly went up to Lucia and informed her.

"Young Master is waiting in the first floor hall."

Kate looked on worriedly as Lucia asked to be excused and went inside. She knew ahead of time about Lucia's plan to introduce Damian at the garden party.

Kate had cautiously expressed her concerns but Lucia's thoughts on it were firm and she couldn't change her mind.

'I don't know if this will turn out okay.'

The problem of illegitimate children gaining peerage was more determined by the attitude of women than the attitude of men. No one wanted to be in a situation where an outsider comes in out of the blue, kicks away their good fortune and overtakes the child of the legal wife.

'Lucia was born a princess and then became a Duchess. She doesn't seem to know of the noble wives' mentality to an abnormal degree. Although, rather than not knowing their mentality, should I say she's detached from their desires?'

Kate had interacted with a wide range of people. If they were of like-mind, they didn't discriminate between people, regardless of their status.

So, naturally there was a lot to compare between how a person with a high status and a person with a low status differ in basic attitude.

The typical daughters that were born noble ladies, had never experienced a rough day, married that way, lived as noble ladies, and had a very narrow view.

It wasn't that they had malice but from the outset they didn't know anything else. They were arrogant, fussy, immensely prideful and selfish. Apart from a difference in degree, they were pretty much the same way.

It wasn't like Lucia did not know the attributes of such ladies. Sometimes during conversation, she was surprisingly sharp. However, understanding with one's head differed from accepting it with one's heart. To Kate, Lucia was intriguing.

It was her first time seeing someone like Lucia in such a position. Lucia wouldn't reveal herself of her own accord nor would she stand on top of anyone. She wasn't pretending to be humble, it was her nature.

There were no pretenses, no fabrications, even when saying something, she took the recipient of her words into consideration. So, Kate felt most comfortable when she was around her.

Kate's expression grew dark when she saw an elderly noble woman with her head stiffly raised high amongst the cluster of guests.

The Countess of Wales was a well-known figure in the northern high society. Even though her (Kate's) great aunt was respected by a lot of people, her great aunt's actual influence was not that significant.

This was because her great aunt did not like this woman. The Countess of Wales and her great aunt were extreme polar opposites on everything. In fact, the relationship between the two was not good at all.

The Wales family was considered one of the most prestigious and wealthy families in the North. The Countess of Wales wielded her influence to her heart's content and enjoyed people flocking towards her.

'Great-aunt said her activities have come to a lull and these days, she flaps her wings around more.'

As the Countess of Wales did not enjoy horse riding, she was never found in the horse-riding field. However, according to the rumors spreading around, when she heard that Lucia had brought Damian to the horse-riding field and introduce him to people, she'd remarked,

[She's young. She should have someone close to her, giving her wise advice.]

'I hope she doesn't stir up pointless drama today but…'

Kate knew inwardly just how smart and firm the seemingly docile Lucia was. Hence, although she was worried, she wasn't anxious.

***

Lucia entered the central tower and found Damian lingering around the same spot then she approached him.

"You look splendid, Damian."

Damian was dressed in a small sized adult-like tailcoat size and looked like the perfect little gentleman. Lucia wished father and son would wear tailcoats, standing side by side as she held them in each arms and entered the party venue.

The ladies wouldn't be able to take their eyes off them. Just imagining it made her smile happily.

"It's a bit…stifling." (Damian)

"You'll get used to it soon. The guests have arrived, let's go."

Damian stood still and did not move as though he'd been nailed to the ground.

"Lucia, no matter how I think about this, I…"

"Damian, from now on, you'll have to stand in front of a lot of people. Today is just the beginning. There is no need to feel pressured, if anyone misbehaves around you, just tell me. I'll teach them a lesson."

Damian stared blankly in response and Lucia put her hand on her waist.

"You don't believe me? All right. I'll tell your father instead. He's a scary person so he'll teach them a good lesson."

A little smile floated onto the boy's lips.

"Let's go."

Lucia reached out, grabbing Damian's hand and pulling at it. Damian flinched at the sudden contact. He gazed at the hand holding his and obediently followed, walking along. It was a soft and warm hand.

His gaze slowly moved from her hands to arms to her back. There was no light coming off of her but his eyes felt dazzled. He was dazed by her brightness and couldn't move his eyes away.

When the hostess of the party, the Duchess appeared, the noise gradually subsided and the venue became quiet.

Lucia glanced through the ladies of various ages sitting in gorgeous and colorful attires and announced the start of the party with a greeting.

"I would like to extend my thanks to all of you who were willing to attend today. It is my first time having so many people in one place so there might be some immaturity but I hope we all have a good time."

Amongst the ladies attending today, the ones that were older and more influential than Lucia bowed their head slightly.

"And, there is someone I would like to introduce to you all today. Damian, come on out."

Damian who was hidden from people's sight, walked up and stood beside Lucia at her call.

"You are all well aware of him. In the future, the Young Lord will be the master of Taran after the Duke. He's still young but I wanted him to give his greetings so I called for him."

Most of them could not hide their confusion at the boy's appearance. After a moment of silence, the crowd stirred. The confused ones were mainly the singles or young wives while the expressions of the older wives stiffened.

In the midst of this, one person placed down their teacup heavily, making a loud noise. It was the Countess of Wales.

Her expression was cold and she lowered her hand to her knees, her mouth tightly shut. People's gazes traveled over to the Countess.

The Countess' expression did not reveal any displeasure. She just remained silent and expressionless. As the Countess' silence grew longer and longer, the expression of people around gradually stiffened.

***

Around the time when the garden party started, Hugo was working on documents in his office. When Jerome came in with tea at his usual time, Hugo questioned him.

"Is the party going well?"

"Yes, I heard almost all the guests have arrived."

"Anyone that was invited and didn't show?"

The act of receiving an invitation and being absent without previous communication was an insult to the organizer. Unless one was without fear, they wouldn't do such a thing but because she'd said she would introduce Damian, Hugo was somewhat concerned.

"Apart from two people who informed me of their absence due to health issues and two others who sent word that they would be arriving slightly late, they are all in attendance."

Hugo nodded and shifted his eyes back to the paperwork on his desk.

Suddenly, the name 'Lucia' popped up in his head again. He would forget the name for a moment then it would pop up in his head again, the name just kept hovering around his head.

He was curious but he didn't want to ask her, it would be too embarrassing to ask her directly. After all, it had come to mind that perhaps it was just a nickname that the both of them shared between themselves.

Last night, he couldn't have his wife. Because of the garden party, she had to get up early and had him promise not to touch her at all so he really only hugged her and slept.

She slept sweetly, not caring about him who was too flared up to sleep. Without any power or energy, what bait could he throw to catch her?

"By any chance, have you heard of the name, 'Lucia'?"

Hugo was spewing these words bitterly, like a complaint, but when Jerome replied with 'Yes', Hugo quickly lifted his head.

"You've heard of it? Who is it?"

Jerome tensed up in the face of his master's unusual reaction. While thinking that there was no way his master didn't know, he had answered indifferently but his master didn't seem to know.

'Oh dear. Milady, why is Master not aware of this?'

Jerome expressed his frustration to the madam inwardly.

"…That…I heard it was Milady's childhood name."

His master gave no response to that.

Jerome broke out in cold sweat. His master really did not know. He began to get worried as to whether the two of them would have another serious fight like last time.

"Did my wife tell you directly?"

"No, I chanced upon Lady Milton calling Milady by that name so I asked Milady about it."

"Okay. You may go."

After Jerome left, the office was quiet and Hugo sat staring at a paper but none of the words on it were entering his brain.

The daughter of Baron Milton knew, Damian knew, even Jerome knew but only he didn't know.

Hugo was yet again shocked. Her heart was still firmly shut and under lock and key. Perhaps it will keep being so in the future.

[I will never love you]

[There's nothing after it ends.]

He put the pen and paper in his hands down, clasped his head with his hands and let his head drop onto the desk. His chest felt stifled, like there was a huge rock pressing down on it.

It felt like wandering in a desert and the end could not be seen. He found something he wanted for the first time since his brother's death but it was something he could never get.

Perhaps it was comparable to the desperation of a man dying from hunger as he looked at a fruit that was simply out of reach. Even though he took deep breaths, his clogged up chest did not ease up.

After the death of his brother, his world slowly became colorless. It was boring and meaningless. However, he didn't know when it began but recently, he hadn't thought of the world as tiresome.

At some point, his world was full of color and his seemingly stopped heart began beating again. If he were to lose her, his world would die again. As long as she was his wife, she could not leave him.

However, marriage could not bind the heart. No contract in the world could do that. If her heart had not yet been given to another, he could bear it.

However, what if she gave it to someone else? What if she gave her body to him while sharing her heart with another?

He closed his eyes as he hazily sank into the darkness within his mind. The sound of knocking on his door pulled him back into reality.

The one he didn't want to answer the most, Ashin, hurriedly entered his office.

"Your Grace, urgent report on the outbreak of an epidemic."

He sighed. How exhausting. He wasn't even allowed time to get sentimental. The northern land was a very large land so incidents happened without rest.

Just like riding on an old ship with water leakage, when one blocks one of the holes, the water comes in from somewhere else. He barely managed to get his heart that wanted to throw it all way under control and summoned some enthusiasm.

"What epidemic in this weather?"

"Reportedly, dozens of people in the fief complained of the same symptoms and the disease occurred in batches. Since it's a place that's only three to four hours away on horse, I didn't continue monitoring the situation and contacted you."

Hugo stood up immediately. If it was really epidemic, the consequence of it spreading to Roam would be the worst of worsts.

"I will head out immediately. Have the knights on standby and get physicians that can ride."

"Understood. Since Sir Philip is opportunely staying in Roam at the moment, shall I request for Sir Philip to get ready?"

Hugo frowned.

"Except that old g… except Philip. Find another doctor."

Ashin acquiesced and withdrew.

Hugo roughly arranged the documents on his desk and after a while, he left his office. After being informed of this news, Jerome quickly brought his master's white unnamed horse outside and waited for him.

Hugo urgently ordered one of his hurrying knights to find and bring a doctor along, then he departed first with the rest of his knights.